After our stellar performance midweek, several bloggers have flirted with a big question: are we, as a club, genuinely ready to take the next step?
Is Celtic prepared to cut ties with certain traditions that bind us here in Scotland? I don’t think there’s a more fundamental or important question facing us at the moment.
Another question naturally arises: what can fans do to support the club if it decides to head down this path? Equally vital, how can we make sure the club understands where we stand on this potential shift and how we can nudge them along, should they hesitate?
A few sites yesterday picked up on some comments from the Celtic Trust. These guys commissioned a report indicating that fans would be in favour of a “shadow board” concept. I’ve written at length about the idea of a Congress of Celtic fans, although this suggestion didn’t exactly win over people in the Trust, the association, or anywhere else. To me, it’s clear that organised fan groups sometimes seem to focus on their narrow interests.
Now, I’m not going to say that’s necessarily the wrong approach. The supporters’ association is an elected body representing dozens of supporters’ buses and Celtic clubs across the country. It is right and proper that they look after the interests of their members first. The Trust also has a clear agenda: their executive leadership wants seats on the Celtic board. They see a shadow board as a step towards that goal.
There’s undoubtedly a bit of politics here, and we’d be naive not to acknowledge it.
There are clear challenges in organising supporters into a unified structure capable of exerting influence on the board when it’s making decisions with potentially significant impacts on our future. These kinds of decisions require some degree of consultation and general agreement within the fan base before they’re implemented.
The decision to take a giant leap forward and truly see ourselves in a European context shouldn’t be difficult. All it demands is a commitment to attracting higher-calibre players, a more assertive transfer strategy, and continued hiring of top-tier managers. None of this is radical or controversial, nor does it require us to fundamentally change how we operate.
What it does require, however, is a change in mindset. Some people at the club seem to believe we need a strong domestic rival.
They think Celtic requires the Ibrox club in some form or other to sell season tickets and sustain growth. The notion of a domestic rival who pushes us to improve is deeply embedded and may be hard to shake for those who’ve held onto it for so long.
But recent events at Ibrox challenge this perspective. With Celtic where we are right now and the Ibrox club where they are, we’d have to make a conscious decision to go backwards for them to catch up. It’s not just a matter of standing still; we’d have to actively reverse gear. The financial gulf between the two clubs is massive and growing wider.
As I’ve said before, it is not within Celtic’s remit, if it ever was, to prop up the club across the city. The reality is that we are leaving them behind, and we will leave them further behind. This is the simple truth. In terms of finances, player quality, and long-term strategy, we’re miles ahead. And it doesn’t benefit the manager, the board, the players, the shareholders, or the fans to suddenly pause our progress just to fabricate a challenge where none exists.
The reason I brought up fans at the start of this piece is simple: the club is going to need our help with this transition—from expecting a consistent domestic rival to accepting that we probably don’t, and might never, have one again.
It’s possible that if we continue to extend our dominance, attendance at Ibrox will decline. But on our side, some worry that without a title race, Celtic Park’s attendance might slip too, that season ticket renewals could falter if fans feel they’re merely watching an annual parade to the league title. That’s where we, as supporters, need to show our loyalty and prove our commitment to the club—even if the league becomes a procession.
The best way to keep fans engaged and keep our club appealing to the next generation is to give them a bigger target. We must accept that success in Europe and sustained fan support are interdependent. That bond between the two has to endure, regardless of our domestic situation. If fans keep coming, keep backing the team, the club will be in a stronger position to pursue European success. It sends a message to those in the club who still believe a domestic challenge is essential, that we’re satisfied as long as we’re seeing progress in Europe.
If we’re going to ask our club to focus on the bigger picture, to chase European respectability at the expense of our domestic rivalry, we need to prove that we’re behind this vision now and into the future. Because only then will the board have the confidence to stay the course, knowing that it has the fan backing it needs to succeed.